Home How to Sell a House By Owner

You may want to sell your house without an agent, and that seems like a fair deal. After all, you will end up saving the real estate commission that can range anywhere between 3% and 6% of your property value. And in numbers, that's often a huge amount.

But if you want to sell your house by yourself, you will need to know exactly how to proceed with the task, so you can get a fair value for your property. This post will share five steps that can guide you on how to sell a house by owner. Indeed it is going to be a challenging task, but it's all worth the effort. Without further ado, let's get started.

# 1. Determine the Market Value of Your Home

When getting started with selling your home by yourself, the first step is to determine the actual market value of your home. And this is something that you should definitely get right.

If you set a price for your home that is too low, you will end up with a lesser value on sale than you should. On the other hand, if the price is too high, there is a lesser chance of a quicker sale. Instead, your property can sit for months without liquidating. So make sure you state the price that is closest to the market value of your home.

You can try several strategies to determine the most realistic value of your home, such as:

• Getting an estimate using online property valuation sites such as com and Trulia.
• Get a market analysis by a real estate agent, or
• Work with a certified or licensed residential appraiser who can evaluate your property.

#2. Prepare Your Home for Sale

Your home may seem perfect to you, but when you are selling your home by yourself, you may need to prepare your home for sale. After all, you have been using it, and property with residents is bound to need some repair and maintenance.

An essential aspect of preparing your home for sale is to think of your property from the buyer's perspective. You can start by asking yourself, “what would I not like if I were buying this house?” It may seem negative, but that's the entire point.

The idea is to identify all the flaws in your home and correct them so you can get the right value for your property. The process may include enhancing your home's general appearance by undertaking minor repair projects, repainting any walls or rooms that look tired and de-cluttering the entire house. All of this will give a clean and fresh look to your property, and with these minor improvements, you can get a fair value of your property.

If you think you cannot do this task objectively, you can hire professionals who can identify all the potential upgrades your home needs and complete the task against a nominal charge.

#3. Market the Home for Sale By Owner

Now that you know your home's fair market price and are done with the preparations for selling your home by yourself, it's time to market your product – your home. There is no single approach when it comes to marketing your residential property for sale by you can try some of the following strategies.

Create Flyers

Creating flyers with your home address and contact information may be a great strategy to market your home for sale. While it may seem old school, there are still people who prefer the paper medium, so you can tap that market by creating and distributing flyers.

You can add a lot of information about the interior and exterior of the house in your flyers. Moreover, you can add details of the school district and neighborhood to make it more appealing for the customers.

Get a Good Yard Sign

You must have seen a “for sale' yard sign several times. Most of the homes for sale by their owners rely on this marketing strategy. If you intend to use a yard sign as a marketing tool, it is best to get a customized yard sign to attract potential customers.

While they may cost you more compared to the standard yard signs you can find at most office supply stores, but a catchy design with vibrant colors is worth the investment.

Advertise Online

When selling your property by yourself, you can also advertise your home online. Several popular real estate websites offer a listing of homes for sale by the owners.

Arrange an Open House

The last on the list is perhaps the most effective of all marketing strategies highlighted above. You can host an open house, preferably over the weekends. An open house will allow all the potential buys to physically visit the place and evaluate it.

When you plan to host an open house for your home, make sure you advertise it at least a week before the event. You can rely on several different mediums, such as flyers, online advertising, social media publicity and word of mouth so more people can attend the event. Which, in turn, may mean greater chances of your property's sale.

#4. Negotiate the Value

You have already attracted the customers, but you cannot get the right value for your property until you negotiate the final value with your potential buyers. Always remember that you are not using an agent who can get a fair value for your property, so the onus of selling your home at the right price is completely on you.

You can rely on verbal negotiations initially, but once the value is finalized, your buyer will have to give in a written offer. You can use the contracts used by real estate contracts to share written details; however, the document will not hold any legal value, and you will still need a proper closure for selling your property.

#5. Finalize the Legal Closing

Once you and your potential buyer has agreed to a value for your property, you will have to work with an attorney or the title agent (also known as the closing agent) who can legally handle the closing of your house.

Most of the closing work will be done by the attorney or the closing agent. However, they may ask you to provide certain documents. At this point, make sure you stay in contact with the buyer of your property.

Final Words

Home for sale by owner may be challenging and require some hard work, but if you put in all the effort, you can surely save tens of thousands of dollars.